The social networking company recruited Burson-Marsteller in row over privacy
Read more: [http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/78877,...son-marsteller](http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/78877,news-comment,technology,facebook-admits-hiring-pr-firm-to-smear-google-burson-marsteller)
[More info including some of the emails here](http://pastebin.com/zaeTeJeJ)
The next saga in the ongoing war of privacy although I think it's somewhat hypocritical of FB to be accusing anyone else of breaching privacy....

JJMcClure
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2011-05-19T16:04:28Z —
#2

This issue is a very visual part of the war going on over our personal information. I'm curoius how people stand on that issue. I'd like to live in a world where nothing was private, where governments didn't need to keep secrets 'in the interests of national security', where companies didn't keep secrets for commercial and competitive advantage.

There's nothing about my life I wouldn't be prepared to tell someone if they were prepared to be as open in return.

Where do you stand on privacy?

Ted_S
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2011-05-19T17:15:36Z —
#3

Taking the privacy discussion to business & the Web [let's leave politics aside, thanks] it's a matter of being upfront and offering choice.

People get scared when they think about their "information" being out there. We forget how much our credit card companies, grocery stores with their club cards, catalogues and retailers know. The web shows so much data directly that it's become a target and while it's not the only place with a problem, we still need more transparency to stop the issue.

We as an industry have been too shy in explaining the benefits of data and now it's coming back to hurt in the form of laws and investigations. Anonymized data, in huge numbers can do great things... drive movie suggestions, show you ads that you prefer [since we all know you'll see an ad either way]. Throw in some choice to step out [and loose functionality] and it's a better playing field.

As for Facebook v Google... that's a whole other topic on competition, the focus on privacy is just today's battle.

My question wasn't political Ted. In a discussion about Privacy it's hard not to talk about the fact that Governments keep secrets but that's not a party political stance, it's a simple questioning of the need for that behaviour. What kind of world do we live in where my government (whichever party happens to be in power, that's irrelevent) keeps secrets from me for my own benefit and why do they need to do it?

Ted_S said:

People get scared when they think about their "information" being out there.

Yes they do and this is the crux of the issue for me. Why do people get scared? Because their data might be used in a way that's detrimental to them and the only reason someone would do that is financial gain or for power.

I have a solution to this problem but before I post it I'm curious about other people's opinions on this. How do we solve the problem of the requirement for privacy?

Ted_S said:

As for Facebook v Google... that's a whole other topic on competition, the focus on privacy is just today's battle.

Not at all. Google want access to the user data that Facebook has to improve their own search but FB refuse to let them have it (whilst letting Bing access it).

Both companies have been accused of breaching privacy and the way this plays out will have a significant impact on online privacy.

JJMcClure
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2011-05-23T10:04:42Z —
#5

No one else has an opinion?

r937
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2011-05-23T12:04:31Z —
#6

JJMcClure said:

No one else has an opinion?

boys will be boys

and in the case of google vs facebook, big boys will be big boys

i frankly don't trust either of them as far as i can spit

i use them both, daily, but i make sure i do not let them store a cookie

JJMcClure
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2011-05-26T14:39:38Z —
#7

r937 said:

but i make sure i do not let them store a cookie

So you value your online privacy? How do you feel about the sharing, or not, of all the data that facebook has on most people who are members?

but facebook, and that whole concept that every app can read all your personal details -- that bothers me a lot

i react by (1) using only one or two apps, and (2) setting my facebook security extremely tight

Ted_S
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2011-05-26T17:19:30Z —
#9

JJMcClure said:

So you value your online privacy? How do you feel about the sharing, or not, of all the data that facebook has on most people who are members?

It's a good reason to be educated about their privacy system and to read requests. If you do so your exposure is quite limited especially when you compare it to what a grocery or retail store where you have a loyalty card is doing.

Shyflower
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2011-05-26T22:46:53Z —
#10

Ted_S said:

It's a good reason to be educated about their privacy system and to read requests. If you do so your exposure is quite limited especially when you compare it to what a grocery or retail store where you have a loyalty card is doing.

Oh so true! I once signed up for a contest at a home improvement store and got spam forever more from them! At another retail store, I got a "loyalty card" (is that what they call them?) and the same thing happened. I've since learned to give them an email address that is for spam sign-ups only. I just go in every now and then and delete all to keep the account open.

Samdenial
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2011-05-27T05:30:16Z —
#11

Hi,I think its good to be conscious about privacy and security but I don think that facebook got problem with privacy because they are huge company and already working on the security aspects.

Ted_S
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2011-05-27T05:54:38Z —
#12

Samdenial said:

Hi,I think its good to be conscious about privacy and security but I don think that facebook got problem with privacy because they are huge company and already working on the security aspects.

So what do you think of the critique of their privacy policies and settings?

pinkypainter
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2011-05-27T07:40:28Z —
#13

Some company tend to get information that do not required for instant the identity card number. it will only needed when we apply credit card and load.

People out there only the copy cat to copy a form from the other party and never review the need and needless of those information.

I heard that people can steal our information and may use it for illegal activities. We have to prevent this from happening, don't you think so?

JJMcClure
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2011-05-27T10:20:14Z —
#14

It seems thast online privacy is going to tightened up considerably with the new UK law requiring websites using 3rd party cookies to request user persmission before implementing them, not exactly on topic but related.

I think I'm not making my point clear though, it's not specifically facebook's privacy that I'm thinking about or the war between Facebook and Google over our data but the concept of privacy overall, not just online. We value our privacy but could we ever live in a world where nothing was private and who thinks (as I do) that it would be a good thing?